Recent releases from Rockstar Games have indicated that the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV will be region locked. The news is a bad sign for those living in areas where titles are normally delivered later or where video games carry a high premium.

Microsoft's console employs a system which allows game publishers to choose whether they wish their titles to be locked to a single region. Rockstar Games' only released title on the platform so far, Table Tennis, is locked to the region in which it is purchased. The company's next game for the console, Bully: Scholarship Edition, was today confirmed by VideoGamesPlus to have suffered the same fate.

All titles for Sony's PlayStation 3 are region-free, although many retailers refuse to send PlayStation titles to the European Union for legal reasons.

Just to clarify, a region locked game is one which only works on a console bought in the same market in which the game was. For example, if you buy Table Tennis in the USA it will only work on consoles in North America.